In video record and replay systems, the potential performance and implementation complexity of features, such as dropout compensation or providing a viewable picture during search modes, depends on the nature of the recording format or the manner in which information is organized on the recorded medium. Defects on the recorded medium along tracks traveled by transducer heads recording or replaying information are the cause of a dropout. One example of such a defect is the stipples or bumps of magnetic oxide which occur periodically on a magnetic recorded medium. The stipples cause the transducer heads to be removed from the recorded medium and thereby cause information gaps while the transducer heads are removed from the recorded medium. During search modes, the speed of the recorded medium can vary anywhere from normal replay speeds to many times normal replay speed in both the forward and reverse directions and a video signal for each frame or field displayed must be reconstructed from only portions of many recorded fields or frames. Consequently, the timing necessary to reorganize the replayed information must be very precise and the circuitry which provides this timing can be quite complex. Furthermore, where each frame or field is recorded on a set of multiple tape tracks, such as in helical scan recording, it is desirable to replay information from less than the full number of tracks in each multiple set during any search mode. To simplify both the mechanical and electronic aspects of the record and/or replay system, it may be desirable to replay information from one track during any search mode. Since the recording format determines the availability of information at any time during replay, it also establishes limitations as to the approach taken for compensating or concealing a dropout and for reconstructing a viewable picture during search modes.